As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented economic and policy challenges to the United States and other countries. Navigating out of the pandemic slowdown is another novel experience, which makes it more difficult to answer the question addressed each year in the "State of Working Pennsylvania": How is the Pennsylvania economy…

Tom Wilson, the chair of the executive committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce published an op-ed titled "Save Capitalism by Paying People More." Wilson acknowledges in blunt terms that ordinary working Americans are not flourishing economically. This year's annual "The State of Working Pennsylvania" documents the accuracy of…

The United States and Pennsylvania economies are at a pivot point: Will we build forward better or will we build back the same? Will we make things even worse? This report revisits the policy choices that lie ahead. Most of this annual checkup on the Pennsylvania economy, the 26th "State of Working Pennsylvania," presents labor market…

This report represents a county-level Pennsylvania data base focused on variables of significance to rural communities. The data includes computations of per capita rates for counties in rural, urban influence, and urban clusters. This report is intended for comparing rural counties to other areas of the state. Three categories are used to present…

A study compared the records of high school graduates in respect to curriculum type and high school education, postsecondary education, and work experience for Lancaster and Lebanon Counties in Pennsylvania. Data were collected through questionnaires mailed to all graduates from the years 1982, 1985, and 1988 and from high school transcripts. The…

A study analyzed the high school, higher education, and employment experience of high school graduates by curriculum type in order to determine how the Greene County Vocational Technical School (Pennsylvania) might better address the education and career interests of high school students and the skill requirements of employers. Transcript data…